Today was the last day of the GBBC! I was a little too tired to get up at 6:30 again this morning, so I slept in until about 8 like I usually do. I had my online Latin class at 11:00 and archery league at 1:00, so today was pretty busy. I did get some birding done in the late afternoon, though. I got 19 species today; making my GBBC total 40 species. I also got an email from eBird (a bird sighting database) asking me for proof for the hawk I've been reporting as a Broad-winged Hawk. They think it is more likely to be a Red-shouldered Hawk, and now that I compare the two more closely, I can see it does look like a Red-shoulder. Here's a photo. What do you think?
It's not a great photo, but it's the best I have. But just in case you need it, here's another one:
And it's almost the same as the first one. :) Oh, well. I didn't get too many angles. The hawks have been here all winter, and that should mean they're Red-shoulders. But I'm confused by their calls. In my iBird app on my iPod, it sounds like a Red-shoulder. On the Maculay Library from Cornell, it sounds like a Broad-winged. I'll try to figure it out. In the mean time, maybe you can tell just from the field marks?
Thanks and happy trails,
~Katie
Thanks and happy trails,
~Katie
I think it's a Red Shouldered hawk, because of the white "dots" on the wing. The Broad winged hawk doesn't have these. But they are VERY similar in every other way so it's really hard to tell.
ReplyDeleteIf you ever get a chance to see this bird fly THEN you should be able to tell the difference! When the Red- Shouldered hawk flies it has red "shoulders" that extends out onto the wing. The Broad winged hawk's wings are, for the most part, whitish/creamy in color with brown dots.
Hope this helps!
~SG~